KPC announces $80bn energy investment plan

ENERGY PRODUCTION: Kuwait sets out production objectives for 2020 as part of massive investment both at home and abroad. (Getty Images)

The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Saturday it intends spending about 24 billion dinars ($80 billion) on expanding its hydrocarbon production and refining capacity.
 
It also set a production target for 2020 at 4.0 million barrels per day (bpd).

The firm told news agency KUNA that the planned upstream projects are expected to focus on boosting domestic production, while about half of the downstream investment budget will be allocated for refining and petrochemical projects overseas.

Pointing out that Kuwait's current capacity has already reached 3.0 million bpd, Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah said: "We are making steady progress in raising output and (are) ready to provide sufficient amounts of oil to meet additional demand from our clients."

The minister is visiting Tokyo for a ministerial energy meeting on Sunday, where Asia's major oil exporting and consuming countries will discuss concrete measures to improve market transparency, stabilise oil prices and boost investments.

Asked about his view on the price of crude oil, Sheikh Ahmad said the current price, which hovers around $50 a barrel, is reasonable given the current economic climate.

"We should wait ... stimulus packages by major economies suffering from the severe recession will produce the desired effects on the global economy."

Oil prices have fallen sharply after setting a record of $147 per barrel last July as the global crisis dampens demand for energy, trading around the $51 level Friday in New York.

The minister also said it was premature to say if OPEC should further reduce production at its next meeting on May 28.

The 12-member cartel, a supplier of about 40 percent of the world’s crude, has reduced output by 4.2 million barrels bpd since September last year

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